6 Signs It’s Time To Make A Change

Too many live a hesitant, tentative life, totally unaware of the strength and power that they have to get much, much more out of living.

Don’t be one of them. Don’t wait until your life well and truly sucks before paying attention to the signs it’s time for a change.

Not every bad moment makes for a bad life. Sometimes a challenging moment is simply that. And there can be times when feeling stuck turns out to be a good thing. Especially when it forces us to stop and notice what’s happening around us.

Our ultimate success or failure depends on our ability to recognize whether something is just a bad moment or a cry for help.

Here are some signs it’s time for a change:

1. You’ve forgotten you have choices

Learn to recognize when enough is enough. Sometimes you have to stop hitting your head against the proverbial wall and move on. You don’t have to continue living in the drama just because it’s familiar.

Allow yourself to let go of people and situations, ideas and feelings that aren’t conducive to the nourishment of your growth, or your soul. Let go. Let go now.

Commit to making choices that nurture your personal growth, give yourself permission to start a new chapter in your life and make the choices that liberate you from following the wrong path, the wrong purpose for you.

Love yourself enough to choose freedom from anything that sucks the life out of you.

2. You’ve forgotten that you’re deserving of the best

Not everyone sees you through the same eyes. But everyone deserves to have someone in their corner who appreciates them just as they are.

Feelings of worth will never flourish in an atmosphere of criticism, where mistakes aren’t tolerated and differences are belittled.

If you’re besieged by people who are discouraging and critical, the spark of inspiration and hope that allows you to be in touch with your deepest potential is being crushed.

You deserve to be appreciated, to be valued. Surrounding yourself with those who have a constructive attitude towards you helps you to follow your path towards greater success and happiness and the achievement of your dreams. Do it today. You’re worth it.

3. You let minor irritations become major problems

Free yourself from those pesky irritations that get you down. You’re more free than you give yourself credit for. You’re free to stop letting minor annoyances take a hold. You’re free to feel whatever you choose. You’re free to take control and refuse to react in the old ways.

Life consistently delivers challenges…whether you react or respond…and how you respond is entirely in your hands.

Each day practice releasing something that you normally would find annoying.

You’ll find your happiness is longer lasting and your peace immense. And as an added bonus you’ll discover you’ve freed yourself to broaden this control over other areas of life. If you want a greater understanding of releasing you can find it here.

4. It’s hard to stop obsessing over what was

Life presents you with ups and downs, losses and gains, chances to embrace joy, to experience hope and love and to fulfill your dreams.

Bad things do happen. No one is so enlightened that they’re free from the pain of the past.

We can choose to be immobilized, frozen and focused on perpetual feelings of sadness for all that’s gone wrong in life or, without diminishing the past, turn our focus on to the most precious gift we have…life.

Offer yourself a little loving kindness as you train yourself to take your attention away from what was and place it on what is and what’s about to be.

All it takes is one step at a time. One little shift in attention today will shine a big, bright light on tomorrow.

Remember you’ve always done the best you could with what you knew at the time. Celebrate this awareness, it’s going to set you free.

5. When you find yourself asking the wrong question it’s time to make a change

If you find yourself asking why me, more often than you ask what next. It’s definitely time for a change. Don’t become a victim of the stories you tell yourself.

When something doesn’t turn out as you expected don’t go blaming someone else, or outside circumstances. It’s time to give that up.

You have, you’ve always had, the power to change things; to do what needs to be done to produce the results you want.

Be willing to ask yourself what do I believe? What was I thinking? How was I feeling?

All that matters now is that you choose to be focused on the right questions, the right ideas, that feeling that there is always another option, a different way.

Different results will only be available to you as you make the necessary choices that lead you towards understanding that you are greater than any current problem.

6. You’ve lost your passion

You’re lifestyle no longer fits the person you’ve become. There’s no spring in your step, no joy in your heart.

Life is just one ho hum day at a time. You’ve forgotten a time when you jumped out of bed with a smile in your heart.

External motivation doesn’t last long. Material possessions and money all have their place…but if you want to live a passionate life it’s the internal motivation that will get you there. And it’s rarely exhausted until the dream comes true.

Finding something to be enthusiastic about is one of the main ingredients in the recipe for a happy, fulfilling life. A glorious life can be lived if you’re involved in, or actively seeking your passion every day.

When you’re involved in what you strongly believe in, what you love you become a person of interest. It’s hard not to experience a meaningful life when you become someone who inspires the rest of us.

In the comments below tell me what your telltale signs are that it’s time for some changes. Go on, you know what they are.

As always thank you for reading and leaving your thoughts. Please share this post with anyone you think might be motivated or encouraged by it.

Elle Sommer is the author and founder of Live Purposefully Now, a website focused on sharing the insights and ancient wisdom that have collectively changed her life, in the desire to make a meaningful impact on yours.
Trained at Coach U and having completed a year long training with Bob Proctor, her mission is to encourage and inspire others to build the business, relationships and life they want. Get your free instant access to Success Simplified ebook and get the tips, techniques and secrets of successfully living the life you want.

31 Comments

Hi Elle; This is a post that is needed by so many out there. I love that you started by telling people to determine the difference between a bad moment and a bad situation. And then you talked about finding your passion and having that purpose that gets you out of bed in the morning with a spring in your step. Many of my friends say that they knew I would be successful with the website because it is my passion. I know the first thing i do each day is check my email hoping for something good. and its been years since i asked why me. I am always thinking what next. and now some have me doing some hard thinking to decide whether there may be even more out there for me in the form of becoming an inspirational speaker or coach. I’m pretty happy continuing to build the site getting more experience at videos and hangouts and spreading my brand farther. thanks again and take care, Max

Hi Ell; well, it all starts with having good friends and following your passion. while i would love to be making more money at it, I am happy doing what I’m doing. between the amusement industry, blogging, social media, videos, hangouts, etc; there is always something new to learn. and if you remind yourself to tai pleasure or at least satisfaction in every little step it helps keep you upbeat. I just did my first blog hop. I don’t know if I did it right, but I shared my process along with two excellent blind bloggers. I just know our community will welcome them like they have welcomed me. so, regardless of what happens with that post I have that warm feeling that comes from helping people just to help them. I shouldn’t even b mentioning that, but I thought it went to the point of your reply. I also had another good hangout with william butler stopping by for most of it. thanks for being inspiring encouraging and motivating in your own way. You are a great friend. Take care, Max

I know it is time for a change when things start to be out of alignment, when there is a clutter collection that i keep avoiding , when i am being distracted.
yes i do have a choice, just sometime i forget and get caught up in what ifs!

Elle-
I concur with Sandra Pawula’s comment about feeling ‘out of sorts’ and overwhelmed. Those are tell tale signs that I need to make a change. I also think that our physical body gives us clues and sometimes in big ways. I’ve been experiencing for the past 2 months what everyone has thought to be tendinitis – excruciating pain in my knee that has literally forced me to change my lifestyle. I am spending a lot of my time trying to re-balance, slow down, and reflect on ‘what my body is telling me’. And yes, I am making bite size, incremental changes. Fran

So sorry to hear that Fran. Hopefully in listening to your body, it’ll begin to relax and heal a bit. Funny how we sometimes need a big push before we give our attention to doing at least some little thing differently. 🙂

Dear Elle,
This was just what I needed to read today. I have been thinking of how many things I still do that I no longer have the desire for. For example, I belong to a business networking group that meets at 7 am every Thursday. It’s become a source of irritation to me for a number of reasons but mainly because I get very little business from its members.

There’s a principle in Feng Shui that says that if you keep bumping into that coffee table in the living room the irritation will eventually frazzle the flow of energy from that room. And, being that each part of your house represents a different area of your life (relationships/health/vocation/career/spirituality, etc.) you’re potentially messing with the flow of good vibes in this area by not moving the coffee table.

Your article reminded me of this and I thank you! There are a number of things I’m still doing out of obligation rather than joy that I am now going to let go of.

You gave me my biggest laugh of the day Angela. The coffee table thing is so true, but for me so funny, because it’s so flipping obvious and yet chances are we miss it as a sign to change our route or move the darn thing. 🙂

That’s the truth Debi, it’s kind of scary to make the changes that allow our lives to flow more effortlessly…but just a tweak here and there and the momentum does build a little. As a commenter said on a previous post the question is to leap or dip your toe in. I say whatever works at the time is the way to go. 🙂

Enjoyed this post, Elle! I know it is time for a change on a large scale, when life begins to feel that it is crashing down around you, on a smaller scale, when a person feels stuck. When we feel stressed, we often do forget that we have choices, so important to reach out to others who may have been in a similar situation. It is always helpful to talk about the issues, so that you feel empowered to move forward and make needed changes. Thanks for a great post!

I get that Cathy. For years I lived life on someone else’s terms, hardly awake and certainly not aware of the choices I had available to me. And what you say is so true be talking about the issues we focus some light on things that might have been hidden away in the dark, but still having a huge impact on our life. Great insights. 🙂

It’s important to know that your passion won’t be all rainbows and butterflies. You won’t be enthusiastic all the time, and neither will you find yourself literally jumping out of bed in the morning to start your day with work. But that doesn’t mean you have to change something immediately. I’m saying this because people can be in danger of hopping around, never ever finding something they are truly “passionate” about.

Elle, thank you for this! It was so beautifully written and perfect for me…thank you for the important reminders and for the guidance. So often we forget our power and end up feeling stuck. I am happy to say, however, that my “why me?” moments are getting shorter and now it’s gotten easier to instead say, “what do I really want?” and that feels amazing!!! THANK YOU!!!

I have a good life, a fulfilling life, but always you have a point or two that makes me stop to think, am I doing that as well? And if I do that, will that make me happier, or better. And always the answer is yes. You help me think outside of my box.

This is such a powerful post, Elle! I especially like the first sign and the line, “Sometimes you have to stop hitting your head against the proverbial wall and move on. You don’t have to continue living in the drama just because it’s familiar.” – Yes!

I’m trying to let go and forgive my ex for walking out and not fighting to save our marriage after 35 yrs. I just want to know that there is a better life out there for me without him. I am a good person and I can make it on my own. I fought the good fight and now it’s over between us. I have to accept that. I actually feel better when I’m nice to him. When I don’t try to talk about us. There is no more us. It’s just me now

Wow Judy…that takes a lot of guts…my hat’s off to you dear one. I’m a big believer in better lives for everyone…so I would say ‘YES’ to you experiencing a better life. Plus the way you stay in the energy of feeling better is a great way to bring that better life to you in record time! 🙂

Thanks a lot for this informative post !! i was looking for similar kind of information because i am looking forward to change my career and as you pointed out these points they are similar to my current situation.Great post.

Thank you Ellen. This Post is perfect.
I am asking myself that question right now. How do you know if it’s time to make a change.
Yes. To make that step it’s scary; However, Something will happen that triggers your Intuition and then you know the time is right. We are never stuck because we have choices and the power to make ourselves happy. I am making the changes that I need to live a peaceful Life. Getting away from a Toxic environment.
Your posting is extremely motivating and uplifting to me.
Thank you kindly.
Patricia

Hi Patricia…you’re right change can be scary. Do you think it’s just the fear of the unknown that is the culprit. But at the same time, I found that when change was thrust upon me, things always eventually turned out with something wonderful coming along. It’s that thought that helps motivate me to choose change when I know I have to. I’m glad you find the articles uplifting…then I know I’m fulfilling my mission in life, which is to do exactly that. Thank you for your kind words Patricia. 🙂